The volleyball team took to the road this weekend seeking revenge and returned at least half-satisfied.
The trip began on big down note for the Blue Devils, who suffered a second-half collapse against Atlantic Coast Conference-leading Maryland, losing 15-8, 12-15, 15-3, 15-5.
After having dropped its first match with the Terrapins (17-4, 10-0 in the ACC) in Cameron Indoor Stadium just two weeks ago, Duke was searching for revenge and sole possession of second place in the conference. After losing the first game, the Blue Devils scrapped their way to a 15-12 win in game two. With the match knotted at one game apiece, Duke proceeded to collapse against Maryland, winning only eight points over the next two games.
"We didn't play great the first game, but we managed to be competitive," Duke coach Linda Grensing said. "We struggled with our passing, which, I think, is one of our strengths. We adjusted and ended up winning the second game there. In games three and four we really just didn't play together. Overall, just not a great match."
Saturday, the Blue Devils did manage to gain some revenge, dumping Virginia in five games 15-13, 15-12, 11-15, 11-15, 15-11.
The Cavaliers (19-7, 5-6) came to Durham and upset Duke following the first Maryland loss. The Blue Devils desperately needed to avoid a repeat of that as a loss would drop them to .500 in the conference and seriously jeopardize their chances for finishing in the top two in the ACC.
"The previous time that we played them, we weren't able to really fight and finish through in the match competitively, and I felt we did a great job with that as far as fighting to finish out the match," Grensing said.
Duke came out of the gates in a fury, dominating Virginia early. Down two games to none, Amy Mitchell, who finished with 22 kills and 17 digs, led the Cavaliers back to win games three and four. The Blue Devils regrouped and finished off Virginia in the decisive fifth game, garnering a much-needed win.
After stellar back-to-back weekends from freshman Sarah Peifer, the offensive star for Duke this weekend was junior Maureen Reindl. She paced the Blue Devils in kills in both matches, notching 15 against Maryland and a game-high 22 against Virginia.
"I think she performed this weekend like she is capable of performing," Grensing said. "She is the type of player who steps up when you need someone to step up. She did a great job skill-wise, as well as what she did emotionally for the team.
"She is kind of a finesse player. She knows exactly where to put the ball, no matter what the speed of the ball, where the defense isn't. But I think this weekend, she had a lot more power-type kills."
Peifer was far from inactive, however, registering 14 kills against the Terrapins and 13 against the Cavaliers. Peifer's effectiveness was limited in both matches as both defenses keyed on her, sending multiple blockers to the net on many of her swings.
"You can't be the person who get the most attempts on a team for any period of time and expect to go into a match not seeing some blockers camping out on you-that's going to be their mission from the start," Grensing said. "[Reindl] stepped up at a time when they were camping on Sarah."
Reindl continued her ACC-leading pace on defense, picking up 33 digs against Virginia and 11 against Maryland-both team highs. Peifer helped out on defense as well with 20 digs on Saturday and 10 on Friday, both second on the team.
With the weekend split, the Blue Devils moved to 6-4 in the ACC and 9-9 overall, which easily keeps them in the race for second place in the conference with Georgia Tech (7-3 in the ACC) and Clemson (6-4).
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